


Secret Showmance

by DiamondDustOhSnap



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Drama, F/M, Halloween, HighSpecs, Humor, Ignea, It's a Halloween theatre show, LITERALLY, One Shot, Showmance, Theatre, They say write what you know so here it is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-27 18:54:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12588384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondDustOhSnap/pseuds/DiamondDustOhSnap
Summary: Tensions rise at the annual Halloween show in this university AU, where Ignis and Aranea find themselves playing romantic leads both on and off the stage... But will Ignis ever realize?!





	Secret Showmance

**Author's Note:**

> I just needed to write something light and happy for these two for Halloween. It's silly and not my most distinguished work, but it was great fun to write! I drew on my own experiences a bit here, having gone to theatre school, and I loved the idea of Ignis and Aranea having a showmance. Enjoy!

Ignis muttered his lines under his breath, repeating them and glancing at the script in his hand, ensuring he was getting it right. 

"M'lady, I must ask you not to leave. This cold heart of mine has never known such a wonder as I have felt with you; a kindred spirit, a shining light in this darkness that is my world."

Of course every line he said was perfect, matched word-for-word to the script, but that didn't stop Ignis from obsessively checking it over again. This was a one-time show, after all, and it had to be perfect—there would be no other night to get it right. 

Once satisfied, Ignis placed the script in front of his dressing room mirror and looked at his costume, neatly folded on the countertop. He was playing Dracula, and he relished the thought of portraying the long and lean mysterious master of the night. It was not a role he was often cast as, usually receiving the more tedious side characters in the likes of advisors and servants instead. He was tired of acting as little more than a convenient plot device used to deliver random bits of information. But as Dracula, well, this was his moment to shine—in the university's popular annual Halloween show no less. 

That is why this was such important business for Ignis, and why he was in the dressing room an hour before the rest of the cast, practicing and ensuring he had time to properly do his makeup and install his fangs. 

And, of course, there were thoughts of his leading lady, his Mistress of Darkness, the one and only Elvira herself—ever so skillfully portrayed by the enchanting Aranea Highwind. 

Ignis pretended that he didn’t think about Aranea in such ways—everyone else did, and he did not consider himself a worthy competitor. She was simply his fellow thespian, taking part in what was an admittedly ridiculous show that randomly threw together famous horror characters and expected it to work somehow. (It did. Somehow.) It was topped off with low-brow comedy and angsty writing, a far cry from the works of real playwrights, but it was enjoyable nonetheless—especially after a few drinks. Good thing it was a university production. 

And it was particularly enjoyable for Ignis to deliver his monologue to Aranea at the end of play, where he begs her to stay with him, assuring her that he would protect her heart. She leaves, however, preferring to live an independent life not bound by the emotional tortures of love. It was so wonderfully angsty. 

"Aren't you kids lucky," Cid, their director had said. "I won't be forcing' y'all to kiss or nothin’ cause you go yer own ways!" 

They may not have had a kiss, but they did have plenty of close scenes—like the dance scene where Ignis could always smell Aranea’s shampoo and find new details on her face, like the subtle freckles across her nose and cheek. 

But he didn't care for any of this, of course. She was nothing more than his fellow actor, albeit a rather charming one in her own blunt way. But that was all she was. 

The changing room's door flew open, snapping Ignis back into the space. Noctis, Prompto, and Gladio came in, along with several other members of the ensemble. 

"Hey Ignis, you're here early," Noctis said. 

"Just being responsible, that is all." Ignis side-eyed Prompto. "Unlike some other people here, I actually care to learn my lines."

"I know my lines," Prompto insisted, putting his arms out in front of him. "AARRRGGHHH... BRAINS..." 

He was the zombie in the play. Gladio was a werewolf, and Noctis, showing the least amount of talent for acting, was a black cat. Ignis knew Noctis hardly minded—he was really only there because Prompto had begged him to join the theatre club to meet girls, though Ignis reckoned they had more interest in one another than the opposite sex. All in good time, though. 

"Ready for your big moment?" Gladio asked, slapping Ignis on the shoulder. 

"I am adequately prepared, yes."

"Maybe you should go off-script,” Gladio continued. "Ask Lady Elvira for a kiss at the end." He raised his eyebrows suggestively. 

"I have no idea what you're going on about, Gladio, but I assure you that I am a professional. It may only be a university play, but I take my role here very seriously, and the characters are meant to part in the end—“

"Yeah, yeah. We get it, Iggy," Gladio said. 

"You're not here for the ladies, you're here for the art. We know," Prompto added. "But I'm telling you, that Aranea!"

"Prompto, I assure you I can see," Ignis said. "She is indeed beautiful. But I view her as nothing more than a talented fellow actor." 

"Sure," Noctis said. "Bet you're not interested in seeing her dressed up in her Elvira costume either. Not one bit." 

"Noct—"

The door flew open again, louder this time, and Aranea walked in like a whirlwind, going straight to the mirror with her costume folded in front of it. 

"Hello boys, ready to rock this stupid show?" 

"Hey Aranea," Prompto said, his voice jumping up a pitch like it always did around her. Prompto may not have been as interested in girls as he let on, but Aranea was an indomitable force. She could easily chew him up and spit him out. 

"Lines all memorized, Aranea?" Ignis asked. 

"Mostly!" she said, grinning at him and waiting for the slight twitch of his lips that she knew was coming. "Relax, I'm just kidding. I've got this, Specs." 

Aranea reached for the hemline of her top and pulled it over her head, revealing only her black bra. The boys and everyone else in the changing room (save for Gladio, perhaps) pretended not to notice and focused on their own costumes instead, but there was not a single man or woman in that room who wasn't curious. Bless these co-ed change rooms, they all thought. Bless these terrible theatre school budgets for not being able to afford a second room. 

As for Ignis, well he may have thought himself above such things, but couldn't help looking in Aranea's direction from the corner of his eye. He hoped his glasses provided some cover. (Gladio, meanwhile, made no attempt to hide the direction of his gaze.) He started unbuttoning his shirt to try to distract himself. Focus, Ignis! Focus on anything but those—

Now Aranea was leaning over and pulling her pants off too, left standing only in her black bra and lacy underwear. Ignis' eyes were like a magnet, and he swallowed hard at the sight of her. Astrals be damned, she was magnificent. He self-consciously removed his shirt, hoping he wasn't too much of an embarrassment compared to people like Gladio. He worked hard on his physique, yes, but he was never any good at bulking up. 

As he folded his shirt, Aranea turned in his direction. He pretended not to look at her, but he felt her gaze. What was she looking at? What was she thinking? Ignis felt more self-conscious than ever. 

"Hey Ignis," Aranea shouted. "Need any help with your makeup? You should put it on before you get dressed, in case it powders on your costume. Dracula's pretty pale, after all."

"Good idea," Ignis said stiffly. "I should be able to apply it just fine. Thank you for the offer."

"Nah, come on. I know makeup, and I bet you've never had to wear this much before." 

Aranea walked over, still dressed only in her underwear, grabbing her bag of makeup. She shoved Ignis into a chair and sat herself on the countertop, then grabbed the chair and pulled Ignis right up to her. She spread her legs on either side of him so she could lean in closer and started powdering Ignis' nose. 

Ignis tried so hard, but there was no way he was winning this fight against his eyes. They stared at Aranea's full breasts. 

"Eyes up," she said. 

"Sorry?"

"I need to put powder under your eyes, so look up please."

With great effort, Ignis pried his eyes up, begging them to obey, and focused on the fluorescent lights in the ceiling. These were far less interesting, but also less sweat-inducing. 

Aranea continued to plaster his face with white powder, then added purples and blacks for some subtle contouring. Ignis could feel her breath on his face, her concentrated look. She seemed so damn comfortable sitting there like this, nearly naked in front of everyone, putting makeup on him. He imagined she rather liked this power shift. 

"All done, handsome," she said. "Take a look!" 

Ignis studied himself in the mirror, and by some miracle she managed to make him look lively and attractive, even while playing an undead character. 

"Okay, time to do my own face now. I trust you can slick your hair back yourself?"

"That I am far better versed in," Ignis assured her. 

An hour later, everyone was ready. Aranea, of course, looked stunning in her Elvira dress, the plunging neckline and fitted body accentuating everything perfectly. She had a black wig on, which made her all the more alluring. Ignis himself looked incredibly dapper, if he did say so himself, and the fangs had stuck securely onto his teeth. They made quite the leading pair, and the guys joked about how good they looked together. Aranea playfully looped their arms together; Ignis was grateful for the white powder hiding his flushed cheeks. 

Everyone waited in the wings as they got their five-minute call, the nerves starting to bubble up. Will he remember his lines, Ignis wondered. Will Noctis remember his? (He was a talking cat.) Will Prompto remember to actually come on stage when it was his cue to enter? That one worried him most. 

Someone took Ignis' hand, and he was surprised to find that it was Aranea. 

"Hey, we're gonna be great. Don't you worry," she said, giving his hand a good squeeze. 

"I'm not nervous," he tried. "Well, maybe a little." 

"Just have fun out there. It'll be hilarious, the audience will love it! Besides, they're probably already drunk. This is a university, after all."

“That's probably true," Ignis laughed. 

The lights on the stage dimmed and spooky music played as Noctis went on stage, starting with the opening narration. (The cat was also the narrator. Come to think of it, Noctis had an awfully large part in this for a terrible actor. The perks of being royalty.)

"Ready?" Aranea whispered. 

Ignis nodded and approached the wing to enter. Yes, this was his moment. 

The first scene went perfectly. Even Prompto remembered to enter at his cue (with a shove from Gladio, but Ignis didn't see that). They breezed through the second scene too, a short and comedic one wherein zombie Prompto made friends with a certain talking black cat and unspoken tensions underscored the scene perfectly. 

Then it was finally time for Aranea to come on stage for Elvira and Dracula’s first meeting. Ignis could hear the audience's whistles and hoots at her appearance, and even if Ignis thought it inappropriate, he couldn't exactly blame them either. 

The pair played off one another effortlessly, their chemistry tangible and—if Ignis would allow himself to admit—downright sizzling. They walked off stage and the next scene commenced, while Ignis and Aranea found themselves alone in the wings. 

"You were wonderful," he whispered. "The audience loved you."

"They loved you too," she whispered back. "It was so good! Did you hear them laughing and reacting to everything?"

"It's a good crowd."

"Yeah."

They stood in silence, and even though they knew they shouldn't be talking in the wings regardless, it felt ever so slightly awkward, as if they both wanted to say something more but didn't. Instead, Ignis felt Aranea inching closer to him, her arm touching his. 

He stood very still, enjoying the contact. Then she pushed herself up and walked on stage for her monologue. 

Ignis walked up in the wings to have a better look. He so loved watching her deliver this one. Even though the show was largely a dark comedy, it had heartfelt moments too, and this was his favorite: watching Elvira confess to her mutual longing for and fear of affection. She claimed she didn't want to be emotionally tied down, but really, what she wanted was to avoid getting hurt. Aranea delivered this with such sincerity, Ignis found himself believing her. 

After her scene, Aranea joined Ignis in the wings again. They had a few spare seconds before he had to enter, and he smiled at her warmly, wanting to reassure her that he would never hurt her, but then he remembered she was only acting—and he was probably just reacting to his character’s feelings for her. He turned away wordlessly and went on stage for an intense scene with Gladio, the werewolf that befriends Dracula and becomes his closest confidant. (This play really made little sense). 

In their next scene together, Ignis and Aranea got to dial up the flirting. It culminated in a dance, slow and sensual, and Ignis told himself he was simply feeling particularly in character as he pulled Aranea closer than he had ever done in rehearsal. He told himself she was just feeling in character too when she pressed herself rather suggestively against him in return. He felt a stirring that he knew absolutely shouldn’t be happening on stage, yet he couldn't bring himself to pull away from her, not when she was breathing so heavily against his chest as they spoke their lines over a haunted waltz. 

"You sure know how to move, m'lady," Ignis said. 

"As do you, Count Dracula."

"I was once an excellent dancer in my living life, gracing the courts of the most famous kings in the country."

"What a life you must have lead. Do you miss it?" 

"Not at all. If I had never turned undead, I would have never lived long enough to have met you. And that, m'lady, would have truly been a shame."

"You're quite the sweet-talker for someone who prefers the taste of blood. Watch what you do with that tongue of yours—and those teeth. You might rip a woman's heart apart one day."

"Oh, I have ripped many hearts already."

"Then am I to avoid you?" Aranea pressed her hips closer at this line. 

"No. Because you are the first heart that I want to keep whole."

"Oh my..." 

Aranea and Ignis leaned in as if they were about to kiss, when a loud "AHOOOO!" rang out in the air, the howl intentionally breaking up the romantic moment. They pulled apart as Gladio entered the stage, raging as he turned into a werewolf, ripping a thin cotton shirt off, and sending the crowd wild. It was so comedic, Ignis almost struggled not to break character and laugh. Almost. 

After that scene, Ignis and Aranea waited in the wings once more. They found themselves alone again, with most of the other actors on stage or doing costume changes. 

"That was hot," Aranea said, taking Ignis by surprise. "We've never done that dance scene like that in rehearsals." 

"No, I suppose not. Apologies if I got a little carried away with the moment."

"No, it was great. It felt so... real." 

“Good, because I meant what I said.”

“Oh?” Aranea looked up at him expectantly, a detail that Ignis missed in the dark. (And, most likely, in stark fluorescent lighting too.)

“That’s what all good actors do, right?" 

"Right." Aranea faced back forward, silent for a moment. “But you know, if you did mean some of it—I mean actually you, not just your character—then maybe that's okay too." 

"Pardon?" Ignis raised an eyebrow, not entirely sure where this was going. She seemed different—nervous even. How unusual for the woman who was practically straddling him in her underwear an hour ago. 

"I'm just saying,” Aranea continued, “that it’s a nice thought if you don't want to break someone's heart, or maybe mine in particular. All too often people seem to want to do the opposite—especially in university. But maybe you’re not like them.” 

"I, uh..."

Ignis had no idea what to say. Was she insinuating something? Was he meant to respond in a certain way? Wait, was this an invitation? 

Before he could make up his mind, Aranea was walking back on stage, and Ignis followed, flustered now. And apparently, the flustering was a real problem for remembering his lines because his mind suddenly went blank. 

“Count Dracula, what do you think?”What does he think? Ignis had no idea. 

"Well, what do you think?" Aranea repeated. "Should we... try to hunt your werewolf friend down?" She was trying to prompt him. 

"Yes, uh, yes, we should! We must save Gladi—I mean, Steven, the werewolf!" 

Shit. 

"Great, then let's go!" 

Aranea pulled him off stage, and as soon as they reached the wings, Ignis realized how badly he had screwed up his carefully-learned lines. 

"I messed up..." 

"It was fine, the audience ate it up anyway," Aranea said. "If anything, it made the scene funnier."

"But I—I have my lines memorized. How could I..."

Then it hit Ignis, and before he could catch himself, he was blurting the words out. 

"You tripped me up," he said. "That thing you said before we went on stage, about me not wanting to break your heart. What the hell was that about!"

"Shhh, the audience will hear us, relax!" 

Ignis lowered his voice to an intense whisper. 

"You really confused me with that, you know. What was I supposed to say in response?" 

"I don't know! I was just saying things... Geez, just forget it, okay?" 

Aranea pushed past Ignis and found an even darker corner in the unlit backstage area. Ignis realized she was angry, genuinely so. He felt confused, but really, if she had something to say to him, she could have waited till after the show. 

Or perhaps she had been saying something to him this entire time, but he never noticed. It was certainly possible. It wouldn't be the first time he missed something like this. 

Ignis approached Aranea, his mouth opening to say something, but she sent him a sharp look of warning. Ignis opened his mouth again, and Aranea rolled her eyes and walked away. 

Ignis stood dumbfounded in the darkness, running the last several weeks of rehearsals through his head and seeing certain moments in a new light. There was a reason she always sat near him, chatted with him, hell, even applied his makeup in her underwear. He was so busy trying to convince himself he didn’t like her because he felt out of her league, he completed missed the part about it being mutual. 

Ignis realized it was time for the last scene of the play, the one where Elvira leaves Dracula at the end. He went on stage first, commencing the scene with the rest of the cast. He was remembering his lines, thankfully, but something about them wasn’t right. 

Aranea entered, announcing her plans to depart from Dracula's castle once and for all. 

"I cannot bear to stay here with you, Count Dracula,” she said. "I tried to embrace my love for you, but alas—I am too scared. I have seen the darkest of the black arts, and yet nothing scares me more than love. The risk to my heart is too great."

Instead of saying his line in response, Ignis just looked at Aranea. Her eyes shined. He wanted to say her real name. 

"The risk to my heart," she repeated again, slower this time, "...is too great." 

"M'lady, I must ask you not to leave," Ignis said, delivering his line in a most honest tone. "This cold heart of mine has never known such a wonder as I have felt with you; a kindred spirit, a shining light in this darkness that is my world."

"I'm sorry, I can’t. It was stupid of me,” she whispered, and Ignis was pretty certain that wasn’t in the script.

Aranea turned to walk off stage, and Ignis was supposed to watch her leave until the blackout. Instead, he walked after her and grabbed her hand, pulling her back and into his arms. He pulled her close, pausing just before their lips touched in case he would be overstepping a boundary, but she finished closing the distance between them. 

Aranea kissed him hard and Ignis returned it. The cast gasped, the crowd whooped loudly, and Ignis felt confident enough to slip a tongue in, which Aranea met. Their kiss deepened, not at all bothered by the audience (or Ignis' fangs) and broke apart only when the lights finally, after an almost painful amount of time, went black. They kept their arms around each other in the dark, and when the lights came back up for curtain call, they were still on stage, grinning at each other. 

Then Aranea frowned and spat something out of her mouth. It was a fang. She held it up for everyone to see, while Ignis pointed to his missing fang and everyone laughed. They joined the row for the cast's final bows. 

Ignis and Aranea left the stage hand-in-hand. Backstage, as the cast high-fived one another on a job well done, Aranea held up the fang. 

"Here, I think you dropped this in my mouth." 

"Apologies," Ignis said as he took the fang back. 

"It's okay. I like teeth," Aranea said with a wink, and walked past Ignis toward the dressing room. She looked back and motioned for him to follow. 

"Come on, Dracula. Let's get these costumes off. But… maybe leave the teeth on.”

She winked at him.

“For later.”

**Author's Note:**

> Long live showmance! 
> 
> Did you like this? Let me know! I love your comments—it keeps the writer in me alive. Thank you for reading! <3


End file.
